


Enuzumaki

by plagueofskeletons



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - The Magnus Archives Fusion, Dabi is Todoroki Touya, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Todoroki Natsuo Needs a Hug, distortion!Dabi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25957978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plagueofskeletons/pseuds/plagueofskeletons
Summary: Touya was supposed to lose himself in the Spiral. Dabi was never meant to be born out of what had remained of the poor boy.Neither of them were foreseen to fulfill each other's accomplishments.
Relationships: Dabi & Todoroki Natsuo, Todoroki Natsuo & Todoroki Touya
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	Enuzumaki

**Author's Note:**

> Have this TMA-fusion fic where Dabi is the Spiral Avatar that literally no one asked for.

Touya had been walking through the blinding and bending hallways for... how long was it again? It felt like hours but some part of Touya's mind told him it had only been minutes. He wasn't sure if he could trust his mind anymore like he never trusted his body to stitch his burnt skin back together.

Touya wasn’t sure how he even got to this damned place or how much longer whatever villain trapped him here would let him out. The best Touya could remember was that he ran away from the mansion disguised as a lovely home and kept running down the dark and empty streets until he ran out of breath. He had then decided just to stay somewhere for the rest of the night so he came up to a random building and went through an unlocked door. 

It had taken Touya a second too late what he had just gone through.

Everywhere Touya had looked, he was blind to the epileptic wallpaper, its breathing spiral patterns moving inside his eyelids whenever he shut his eyes. Even though there were electrical lights on the ceiling, the obnoxious yellow colour made it too bright to bring clearance to the confusing path Touya had been walking in forever(?), which did not help the pukish-green carpet floors he had been staring down at to avoid his gaze from the walls and mirrors. 

The mirrors were the worst, in Touya’s sane opinion. They were long and rectangular but whenever he passed by them, Touya’s reflection twisted like his sense of time and direction. There are some mirrors that made him look so contorted that his false body was nothing but a pale stick figure. Sometimes, they showed Touya a bloodier version of himself, the burns peeling off like old-worn bandages. Once, twice, thrice, Touya felt repulsively sick when his reflection was completely changed into a tall black-haired man with deep purple burns stapled to his skin. Every time the burned man appeared, Touya’s desire to get the fuck out of this damned labyrinth and burn whoever was laughing at him when he walked into that door grew.

Sometimes, when Touya dared to stop for a breather to take a snack or a sip of water from his backpack, he might glance at a mirror beside him and the burned man would be there, staring back at him. His eyes are the same blue colour as Touya’s, but that was the only similarity Touya could find between them. The man would occasionally grin widely like a demon crawling out for a feast, his eyes growing wider, making the staples clamping on the rotted patches below come loose and draw a fall of blood. Touya always turned away, ignoring the overwhelming horror that the burns the man had were in the same places where Touya had his.

There were a couple times when the burned man in the mirror wasn’t the only stalker. Touya would turn _another_ corner and would stop upon seeing, further down the endless corridor, a tall woman with large hands and an echoing laugh that pierced through his ears. He would stand still, petrified, as the maddened woman slowly walked towards him with such casualty, speaking in nonsense that made Touya feel more confused and sick. 

The first time he had met that woman, Touya had thrown bursts of fire at her before he turned and ran away as fast as he could. He didn’t know if the villain had screamed in pain but he hoped that it hurt her. 

The second time was not so fortunate. Touya had run out of his water and his rations were dangerously low, leaving him even more exhausted in the hideous maze. He’d almost given no reaction when the woman came again with no evidence that his Quirk had harmed her.

“Oh, you poor, dear boy.” She had spoken in a pitiful voice that Touya was all too familiar with. “You think you’re the only one to be trapped here? That begging and crying will make me feel bad enough to let you out?” She cackled, ringing the bells that had been getting louder and louder in Touya’s head. He just groaned, squeezed his eyes shut, still seeing the kaleidoscope rapidly spinning and changing.

“Then why the fuck did you trap me here, you villain?” Touya couldn’t gain the strength to keep his anger on the hook. Like his Quirk, it had burned away, slowly fading away to be fed to whatever laid deeper in the glaring walls and to the woman who stood over him with much greater power similar to his father. Only that unlike Endeavor, she had not made any physical damage to Touya herself yet still held pride for his growing weakness.

“You were alone and I just _couldn’t_ help to open a door for you.” 

* * *

Eventually, Touya finally received his wish to leave. But like most wishes for indirect desires, it didn’t go the way he wanted.

Finally, _finally,_ Touya found a yellow door at the end of the next hallway he turned to. His tears burned more than his own quirk as he ran down and reached a hand out to grab the doorknob, turning it-

The doorknob hadn’t moved.

Touya stared at it. He turned it again. This time, the knob had moved a bit more, but not far enough to make the door open. 

“Come the fuck on!” Touya shouted, frustration straining his voice. He slammed his body against the door, turning the doorknob over and over, feeling his fire slipping out of his flesh. 

_“Let.”_ Touya pounded the door with every word he said. _“Me. OUT!”_

A bloodcurdling scream bursted into Touya’s ears, somehow feeling like it was his own; and it was his scream. An unimaginable wave of pain that he had never faced before rushed into his body, stabbing his mind with flashing lights and inexplicable images before his eyes. He felt his body rejecting and embracing it, his bones snapping, especially in his hands where it felt all the more worse. His flames soared up in size, making a pathetic shield only for the barely-healed burns in his face and body to intensify. 

For a moment, Touya 

_was he Touya why is he forgetting his name no he hated it no he still liked it give me my name back i am MIcHaEl who’s Michael no you’re not get me out you are not me let me out to the cold to Mom to the house to the Institute to the circus who are you i am HeLeN no you’re not LE T M E O U T_

felt nothing else and the Door opened in front of him. 

He poked his head out, hissing by the change of brightness of the natural world outside. He was... looking at a building? That- that was a hospital, thankfully provided by the bold words that included ‘HOSPITAL’ on the side.

_That... I’m not sure why I’m here._ He thought, pressing his palm against the side of his head, feeling the sharp protruding ends of his fingers on his scalp. _Wait, who- what was my name again?_

“Dabi, wasn’t it?” He muttered to himself. “Yes, Dabi.”

Dabi went back inside, closing the door behind him that wasn’t ever there, and into the hallways which made more sense to him.

* * *

Dabi stared at himself in one of the mirrors that Touya 

_not Touya anymore am I_

had hated not too long ago. His reflection never changed, never twisted, never contorted, never sharpened like it did oh so long ago. 

Despite the timelessness of the Distortion, Dabi knew that he had spent too long eyeing at the golden staples that riddled his face, arms, and other places sneakily hidden under his dark clothes - all to keep the healthy remains of his skin together. He flexed his hands, already used to his sharp long fingers with too many joints.

Dabi sighed and kept walking, the floors shifting below his feet. It would have made a normal human fall, but Dabi remained balanced and felt no agony as his legs moved along with the floor. 

He set his hand alit, watching as his blue fire became sharp glass and brightly basic. It moved like what a flame should, but it looked like it missed several frames of an animation, only switching to a different motion when it stood still for too long. The sparks it emitted were only tiny spirals that disappeared quickly. Dabi flicked a finger, throwing the kindling away. It landed the walls and devoured it. Dabi watched with great fascination as his flames grew in irregular lines from top to bottom, sprinting down the hallways.

By the time the Distortion was glowing in hot blue, overwhelming all of the yellows and greens, Dabi started laughing. It stretched its arms wide, its fingertips never touching the walls yet brushed against the wallpaper. Dabi felt the staples ripping at the corners of its mouth as it grinned and laughed. It had never felt this much joy before, not as Dabi and not as Touya.

It heard the fire joining in. They all laughed and sang like breaking crystal glass. It heard the Distortion both crying and screaming in a way of how one reacts to fingernails scraping on a chalkboard. But the Distortion knew that it was not dying, but was _changing._

And oh, Dabi found the change beautiful.

* * *

No one had noticed a door that wasn’t supposed to be there. They hadn’t blinked when Dabi strolled through the park, sat down on the bench, and waited patiently.

Touya was never a patient boy, especially with his temper and willingness to stand up against Endeavor despite his weaknesses. But Touya was gone and Dabi was here. Was Dabi interested in killing Endeavor with his new power? Yes, it was. 

It just needed to make a visit. 

Nobody looked over Dabi's way. In a normal world, it would have been cuffed and blindfolded by the police by now. But there was never such a thing as normal. Never in the new world where each generation was born with one power. Dabi was gifted with many such as twisting its appearance so no one can react to a disturbing-looking man with patched skin sitting in a children’s playground. 

Dabi waited and waited. Even as the sun went down and everyone left to the comforts of their home, Dabi waited. It never starved nor thirst. It never lost patience either despite the Distortion tugging Dabi to come inside and fix them both a meal.

When the sun rose and dipped again but not touching the end of the horizon yet, Dabi’s visitor came at last. One with regular perception of time would scold them for being horribly late. But Dabi knew that its visitor would come at their own time hence why it never scolded them.

Todoroki Natsuo did not notice Dabi at first. Natsuo trudged his feet across the grass and sand, his head down to fix his eyes on the ground. Dabi did not call out his name. It simply followed Natsuo’s movements as the boy finally dropped on one of the swings, directly across from Dabi. 

Natsuo certainly grew older and taller. The red streaks in his hair were gone, most likely had been dyed to camouflage within his white hair. Dabi knew that a significant amount of time had passed but, being the Avatar of losing the senses and time, it did not care to count the numbers. Better off for Natuso to tell it instead. 

Another glance around the park told Dabi that the park was barely occupied. There was a couple laying on the grass under the trees and a mother watching her daughter go up and down the slide. Dabi looked back at Natsuo, his grey eyes now dully staring back at it without sight. 

Dabi shimmered, feeling the visage of Touya taking over. In an instant, Natsuo’s eyes changed and widened. The next second had Natsuo leaping out of the swing and running over to Dabi.  
Dabi returned Natsuo’s stronghold hug, keeping his hands from accidentally piercing Touya’s brother in the back. It did not complain as it felt Natsuo’s tears soaking into its shirt. 

“You- you’ve, Touya, _you’re alive..._ ” Natsuo gasped between breaths. 

“Yes. I am.” Dabi stated. It had enough knowledge from Touya’s memories that Natsuo would be unfazed by the Not-There-Touya’s monotonous reply. Although it was certain that Natsuo would not take Not-There-Touya very well when Dabi would soon drop the disguise and reveal the truth.

“Jesus, Touya-” Natsuo pulled away. He viciously wiped his tears from his blotchy-red face and made a choking laugh. “You’ve been dead and gone for over a year and all you can say is ‘yes, I’m not’? You’ve barely changed, did ya?” 

_Oh, how soon will you know._ Dabi thought without spite or irritation. “Have I been away for that long? I hadn’t kept track.” He asked curiously like one would ask about the philosophy of human nature. 

Natsuo laughed again. “Yeah, you were gone for that fucking long.” There was a hint of resentment this time. Dabi couldn’t stop the tilt of his head. Were Touya and Natsuo not as close as it recalled? No, that cannot be. They were thick as thieves as the saying goes. Perhaps Touya had hurt Natsuo in some way before the poor boy ran away? Quite likely. 

“Fuck, I- I gotta call Fuyumi and tell her-” Natsuo reached into his pocket but Dabi grabbed his wrist before his hand went any further. 

“I think it’s better not to tell them.” It said smoothly, watching how Natsuo opened his mouth to protest, only to stop and look down curiously at its hand gripping his wrist, certainly wondering about the odd weight that held him. Dabi detached itself from the mirage, feeling the illusion drop like a spill of liquid in a cup. It did not react the same as Natsuo when the boy gasped at the sight of its hands, slowly paving his eyes up to take in Dabi’s full appearance. 

As expected, Natsuo screamed in fear and jumped away. Dabi kept a light grip on his wrist still so the boy would not flee. The playground tenants did not pay any attention as they were now occupied with the games of repetition Dabi had set up for them.

“Who the hell are you?!” Natsuo’s face was twisted with confusion, fear, and _rage._

“I am Dabi.” It replied. There was no emotion in his voice like the other and kept its face completely neutral. 

_“Why did you use him?!”_ Natsuo was shouting. Dabi braced itself for a future river of familiar and unheard profanities. “What kind of sick joke is this? Do you have any idea how much Touya’s death had hurt us?”

“I am aware of your grief, Natsuo, but I do not intend to take advantage of it. After all, I was once the Touya you knew.”

Natsuo ceased struggling but did not erase his anger. He stared into Dabi’s eyes with disbelief. “...you’re lying with me.” He said in a low voice.

“Which organ lies the most?” Dabi asked. “Many say it’s the heart but it merely beats to circulate the blood to keep the body alive. The brain is a second guess since it is the origin of how we decide our next course of action. But then again, it cannot lie as we are prone to forget our memories, especially when you get older. Is it the hand we reach out to help others? Or maybe it’s our bones since it breaks the most.” It laughed at the last sentence, finding it rather humorous. 

Natsuo’s anger has vanished but his confusion remained. “I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.” He said truthfully.

Dabi laughed again. “Of course you would be!” It broke into a grin, natural with its sharp teeth and usual prickles at the corners of his mouth. It also ignored the odd tinge in its chest when Natsuo flinched. 

“But you heard something like this so often from when Touya used to be home.” Natsuo stiffened under its hold but Dabi continued, “Didn’t Touya try to say something ‘deep and important’? Like the one October day when he was twelve and tried to explain that living is like kicking a soccer ball, only for you to tell him that wasn’t possible, which is an impressive feat for an eight year old boy.”

The remaining negative emotions that once held Natsuo like an iron fist were gone. His face was now softening, crisping into one with disbelief and hope.

“I was Touya but I’m not him anymore, nii-san.” Dabi let itself earn a melancholic feeling, hoping that it would make its smile more friendly. “I now hold his memories and eyes.” 

A large tear spilled from Natsuo’s cheek and paused near his quivering lip. “Then tell me what’s the last thing you told me before you left.” 

“‘Don’t follow me if the old man is still at home.’” Dabi recited, the words coming easy without the angry regret that Touya had possessed then. That seemed to break Natsuo once again as the boy started sobbing and lunged forward again for another tight hug, his arms wrapped around Dabi’s neck.

For the second time, Dabi returned the embrace, allowing itself to lean a bit closer. 

“You’re really-” Natsuo broke into another sob. 

“I am not really here as Touya if that’s what you’re saying.” Dabi said. It felt a strong punch to one of its thin arms.

“Oh, shut up and let me have this.”

Dabi patted the boy’s back, stealing another look at the playground. The couple were opening their mouths repeatedly with no words coming out and covering themselves with grass and dirt that grew under the trees’ shade. The mother was making futile attempts to keep her eyes from blinking while her daughter kept going on the slide despite the bottom of it being close to breaking apart. 

_Hmm, let them last a bit longer._ Dabi thought with little concern of the activities.

Natsuo slowly pulled back, sniffing and rubbing his eyes. He kept a small, sturdy hand on its arm. “Sorry, Touya…” 

“Dabi.”

“Touya-nii, what _happened_ to you?” 

It sighed. “Explaining it in detail will just melt your brain, Natsuo. But trying to summarize it will leave some holes in the story, which would be difficult for even your wildest imagination to fill up.” 

It reached out to where Natsuo’s hand remained on his arm. Unexpectedly, the boy reached out another, placing it on top of Dabi’s just as it held onto his wrist. A tiny jolt spiked up from the touch. Dabi stared back at Natsuo, who was looking back firmly. Dabi breathed out through its nostrils as it made the boy to let go and ducked its hand away.

“That is why I wanted to say my goodbye to you.”

Natsuo gasped, coming forward for another embrace but Dabi stopped him this time, flattening its hand on his chest, its nails twitching and nearly clawing into the boy’s shoulders. Fear flashed on Natsuo’s face before it disappeared, his serious expression returning.

“No, you can’t just leave again! We’ve just met again!”

“Are you really meeting Touya right now?” Dabi glared down at him with irritation. It felt kindlings flickering up his back and forearms. “You and Touya said your goodbyes already. Touya is  _ dead _ .” 

“No, you’re not!” Natsuo stood his ground when Dabi leaned down and closer, feeling its eyes blazing. 

“I told you that Touya is dead.” It bared its teeth and dug its nails into the boy’s skin. He still refused to fall. 

“You just told me that you’re-”

“I am nothing but his corpse who granted his memories and wishes to me.” Dabi kept its anger at a low volume. “I am here because you’re the only person in the Todoroki family other than his mother who is the closest to Touya and would understand the new state he is in.”

_ Finally  _ understanding began to dawn in Natsuo’s eyes. “Touya’s wishes?” He muttered. “You mean like-”

“Ending Todoroki Enji’s life, yes.” It couldn’t help the sigh of relief. It let go of Touya’s brother and stepped back, holding onto its stare. “Endeavor will be brought into the Spiral where he will suffer and then die. Then your mother will be discharged and take custody to raise you and your siblings as peacefully as possible.” 

Dabi faced back to its door and just opened it when Natsuo spoke again, “Will you visit?” 

It paused and glanced back to him. “What?”

“Would you visit?” Natsuo swallowed, his eyes becoming red from a fresh wave of tears. “I know that you’re saying goodbye, but- please, Touya. If you really get rid of our father, then please come back and see me, Fuyumi, Shouto, and Mom.” 

Dabi simply stared back without malice or annoyance. It turned back around and walked into the door, ignoring Natsuo’s helpless cries, the playground occupants’ sudden re-awareness, and the heaviness in its throat. 

* * *

Doors are built to let you walk into a building. To put one elsewhere such as in the middle of a street was surreal and even supernatural. Surreal and supernatural were the words that dared to scratch the surface to describe the Spiral and its Avatars. Dabi was a new branch of those definitions, having to be born with and still possessed the pure but agonizing power related to the Desolation, having it to ignite the Spiral. Yet, it also maintained the Spiral into a different kind of fear; one that if the Wanderers do not lose their grips of sanity in the halls, then the halls will go up in flames along with the poor soul.

Dabi stepped out of the door that strangely appeared in the middle of a street, precisely in the same spot where the Flame Hero Endeavor was fighting with an earth manipulating villain. Dabi watched as Endeavor bursted another heatwave, destroying the rocks that were metres away from hitting him. 

It threw a fishing line inside itself, sinking the hook deeper into the former body that was once Todoroki Touya. It felt the hook latch onto a great emotion, much more intense than Natsuo’s. The line drew back with its catch along with a special prize - the memories of Touya’s screams and cries as he suffered from his father’s burning hands. 

Dabi grabbed onto the fury and yelled across the street without taking a breath, “Todoroki Enji!” 

Immediately, the fight paused. Endeavor whirled around to glare with the heat of a hundred suns. His opponent and sidekicks looked back with confusion and fear. Dabi took the opportunity to throw pillars of flames, separating Endeavor from his sidekicks and the criminal. The blazing azure cried out, switching from one glass frame to another every few seconds, extinguishing Endeavor’s orange wildfire for its own.

“So you’re this villain’s accomplice?” Endeavor snarled, taking a stance. “Or are you another revenge-seeker wannabe?”

Dabi laughed, taking in the pleasure of seeing Endeavor startled at the sound. “Oh yes, I am a revenge-seeker. Consider this as a token for a dead friend.” 

Endeavor rushed down the path towards it, boosting himself with his Quirk. Dabi simply sidestepped, allowing Endeavor to go through the door without a fuss. It followed the false hero and closed the door.

“What a _fantastic_ twist, isn’t it?” Dabi laughed again, memorizing Endeavor’s panicked glances at each temporary fraction of the corridor. The man turned around, daring to keep his flames as large as possible despite the blue fire growing on the walls making them smaller.

“I don’t know what or where the hell is this,” Endeavor’s booming voice did nothing to hide the fear that was climbing into his tone, “but you will let me out or face severe consequences.”

Dabi laughed a third time. It was an ugly laugh, one without hiding anything else and would make a child become petrified with fear. Among its usual sadistic joy was anger, sadness, and the _willingness to finally take revenge_. Finally, Endeavor began to look more terrified. 

“Severe consequences? _For me?_ No, you’re mistaken, Enji.” Dabi stared down into the man’s eyes, sure of itself that its hate was visible and _burning_ in his own eyes. “You’re the one suffering from them right now after everything you’ve done to your family.”

Despite his fire extinguished, Endeavor still charged down at Dabi, his steps thundering. Dabi did not break eye contact with the man who claimed to be a great hero as he turned and walked through one of the mirrors, stepping into another corridor that was much like the previous. It heard Enji roaring and screaming in the other hall, pounding on the mirror that it had come out of. Dabi ignored it all, the noise becoming quieter as it continued on its directionless, merry way. 

* * *

* * *

One day in a different house, one that was smaller and less oppressive than the previous home of the current family living here, Natsuo looked up at a door in his bedroom wall. It was a bright yellow door with blue engravings that looked like flames, just a few feet away from the room’s entry. Based on its location, it could have directly led outside, an odd floor above the ground.

Except that door was never there before. 

Natsuo gingerly stood up and walked over. He watched as the doorknob turned. He tried to release his fists open when the door opened. 

Then he smiled and rushed forward into Dabi’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, this was a motherload to write. Had the first portion written last month but my motivation skipped elsewhere so it was the usual schedule - writing and editing this at random times. Now, Helen, I'm so sorry \ but it has to be this way, please don't pull me into the Spiral. 
> 
> Also, Dabi's post-Avatar gender pronouns are "Angy Arsonist"
> 
> Find me at [Tumblr](https://plagueofskeletons.tumblr.com)


End file.
